Competitive Advantage Analytics Report – Assignment #1 Solution

Competitive Advantage Analytics Report

You have been engaged as a consultant to advise Hearns Hobbies, a retail store that focuses on high-end hobbyists. Hearns Hobbies are looking for your advice on how to enhance their digital marketing approaches, especially given the transformation that many brick-and-mortar retail outlets have had to undergo over the past 18 months due to COVID-19 restrictions. In particular, Hearns Hobbies seeks to remain relevant in an environment increasingly being dominated by digital gaming.

• The first step in your consulting services to Hearns Hobbies is to visit the company’s website and also to understand the long heritage behind the company:
• Website: https://www.hearnshobbies.com
• “About Hearns Hobbies”: https://www.hearnshobbies.com/pages/hearns-history
• COVID-19 measures have severely impacted the certainty with which retail outlets can operate, including understanding the evolving customer behaviour related to how they now prefer to shop. The digital transformation opportunities that Hearns Hobbies choose to pursue could very well establish a competitive advantage for them within the retail, and specifically the hobby, industry during this unpredictable time of transition. Hearns Hobbies are looking to you to provide expertise on how they formulate and implement their ongoing digital transformation, to set themselves up for success into the future.

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Assessment Description

• An individual report of 2000 words, +/- 10%
• Analysis of a live case study
• Based on the case study, make recommendations on customer segmentation, targeting and product positioning; using the marketing mix to engage with the target segment; pricing tactics; marketing costs; customer relationship management and acquisition; and A/B testing and multivariate testing to pursue.

Assessment Instructions

Your report should have the following headings and address the topics below:

1. 1. Introduction: A brief summary of the situation in the case study and what you, as a consultant, have been tasked with doing for your client
2. Data: An indication of:

• What data you already have available in this case
• What further data you would like to receive from Hearns Hobbies
• What additional data you will have to collect for your consulting work

3. 3. STP: Your recommendations on:

• How to approach segmenting the market
• Which segment you wish to target
• How to position Hearns Hobbies for that target segment

4. Marketing mix: After you have positioned Hearns Hobbies, indicate:

• What the product or service should be (e.g., should it remain as is, or do you have suggestions on how to change it to pursue a stronger competitive advantage?)
• How you will promote the product or service to the market (e.g., using your digital assets)
• The place that customers should access the product or service (e.g., digital channels of distribution)
• Pricing strategy for the product or service (e.g., tactics to use; understanding value to the customer)

5. Marketing costs: What fixed, variable and marginal costs are most relevant to this case study?
6. Customer relationships: Your recommendations on: – What Hearns Hobbies should do with customer relationship management – What Hearns Hobbies can do to acquire new customers
7. A/B testing and Multivariate testing: State what A/B testing and multivariate testing you would like to conduct, and why
8. Conclusion: Summarise the most important recommendations you are proposing that Hearns Hobbies should address first, and what metrics Hearns Hobbies should look at to understand whether your advice has produced beneficial outcomes.

Other sources to read as you begin to consider tackling this Hearns Hobbies case study:

“Driving success for Australian retail with digitisation”: https://blog.google/around-the-globe/google-asia/australia/driving-success-australian-retaildigitalisation/

“The success formula for Australian companies to digitally transform”: https://www.bcg.com/en-au/publications/2021/digital-transformation-in-australia

“How digital transformation is revolutionizing the Australian retail industry”: https://dcencompass.com.au/blog/how-digital-transformation-is-revolutionizing-the-australianretail-industry/

“Solomon Lew’s Premier Investments says high rents could close 350 stores”: https://www.news.com.au/finance/business/retail/premier-investments-says-high-rents-couldclose-350-stores/news-story/2bf2d045e24bb272e6a8d2b9e904f46c

”Woolworths is launching its online marketplace Australia-wide, as the supermarket giant seeks to compete with Amazon”: https://www.businessinsider.com.au/woolworths-marketplace-australia

Please also ensure you use 4-6 of your own sources and provide reference (Harvard referencing style)